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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Non Fiction Book #Review: A Year Round Slow Cooker


Book Title: A Year Round Slow Cooker
Author: Dina Cheney  |WebsiteTwitterFacebook|
Publisher: The Taunon Press Inc
Genre:Cookbook
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Format: paperback
Cost: $19.95
Pages: 224
How I got it: NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
Publication Date: Jan 22, 2013
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Synopsis:
Slow cookers are popular for good reason: They’re the ultimate kitchen problem solvers. If you’re watching your budget, they’re well worth the $30 they cost since they can turn the cheapest cuts of meat into unctuous, mouth-watering results worthy of a five-star restaurant. Slow cookers also do the hard work, cooking for hours while you’re out of the house only to come home to a meal just about ready to eat. And since slow cookers keep food warm, they allow different family members to eat at different times: a practical option in a world of staggered schedules. Yet, slow cookers have an image problem. Most home cooks use them for cold weather meals only, while others think slow cookers can only produce food that’s mushy, bland, and watery or rely solely on shortcut ingredients like spice packets, bouillon cubes, and bottled sauces. No longer does this must-have kitchen tool deserve to be stored away when spring months hit. In Year-Round Slow Cooker, home cooks will find 100 delicious, modern, practical slow cooker recipes featuring seasonal produce. Recipes speak to the home cook whose palate is more sophisticated and who wants to incorporate seasonal produce into all of her meals. Organized by season, Year-Round Slow Cooker features notes about the featured seasonal ingredients as well as invaluable tips throughout to help cooks maximize the power of the slow cooker.
I'm totally freaking out. The author is from CT, and she always has signings and classes I wasn't even aware of that until I was doing the review setup. I'm so excited now, I can get to meet her and get some of her classes.

I'm extremely happy that I received this book for reveiw. I have a slow cooker that I have been using for a few key recipes. I wanted to expand and learn more recipes, this book gave me a few really good ideas ( and of course they were delicious to try).  I personally loved that there were pages that helped you learn the basics of her recipes as well as the many ways in which to use your cooker.   I have a large cooker so I didn't try as amny recipes as I wanted because it just seemed a waste to mess up the large cooker for a small recipe but I'm going to get a smaller one so I can do the small servings recipes. (or that's the rational, I just want another awesome kitchen gadget).

I enjoyed how the book was broken down into seasons and recipes were listed at the front of each section.  There are a great variety of ingredients and recipes, many which could be made vegetarian quite easily.  There were also a few vegetarian recipes ( like the chili) that were included.  I loved that even with the complicated names some were actually quite affordable.

The author also gave information for switching from crockpot to stove or oven; gave spotlights on certain ingredients and generally made this a fun cookbook.

I will say that even though I truly loved the recipes I tried. There are a few that required pieces and cuts that not everyone can get, so while this is a great guide for the awesome recipes and it's broken down by season, some of the recipes are a little out there for those that might have a tighter budget.

I still enjoyed reading and using the recipes and will be adding the book to my collection. I mean the pictures alone made your mouth water, and I just wnated to taste the book.
 ★★★★☆
I highly recommend the book for the foodies and for those who want to learn to use their crockpots for quick delicious meals.
Happy Reading


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